Written Answers Friday 7 October 2005

Scottish Executive

Culture

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) grant aided expenditure allocation to and (b) actual expenditure by each local authority was in respect of culture and the arts in each of the last three years.

Mr Tom McCabe: The last three years for which information is available on both grant aided expenditure and actual expenditure in respect of culture and the arts are 2001-02 to 2003-04. Information for each of these years, by local authority, is shown in the table below.

  The grant aided expenditure figures below form part of a much larger allocation process used to calculate revenue support grant by local authority. It is up to each local authority to decide how best to allocate the total amount allocated to it as revenue support grant, based on local needs and priorities.

  Cultural and Related Services Grant Aided Expenditure (GAE) and Net Revenue Expenditure (NRE)

  

 
2001-02 (£000)
2002-03 (£000)
2003-04 (£000)


GAE
NRE
GAE
NRE
GAE
NRE


Scotland
332,652
456,879
354,463
488,205
374,313
529,308


Aberdeen City
14,901
20,617
15,885
21,839
16,779
24,113


Aberdeenshire
12,537
12,641
13,342
13,933
14,077
14,577


Angus
6,643
8,291
7,078
9,687
7,474
10,492


Argyll and Bute
5,339
6,014
5,687
6,359
6,004
6,502


Clackmannanshire
3,102
4,199
3,303
4,984
3,486
5,163


Dumfries and Galloway
9,007
10,943
9,588
14,696
10,117
15,680


Dundee City
10,476
15,905
11,162
16,435
11,787
17,941


East Ayrshire
7,205
8,406
7,675
8,976
8,104
9,483


East Dunbartonshire
6,719
9,019
7,165
8,380
7,572
9,072


East Lothian
5,107
7,473
5,436
8,300
5,736
8,379


East Renfrewshire
5,343
7,127
5,700
7,599
6,023
8,187


Edinburgh, City of
31,225
33,116
33,292
35,651
35,171
35,289


Eilean Siar
1,652
2,776
1,757
2,960
1,852
2,445


Falkirk
9,476
10,427
10,103
11,545
10,673
11,999


Fife
20,807
31,816
22,179
34,395
23,428
34,921


Glasgow City
48,120
82,773
51,263
84,007
54,122
108,937


Highland
13,402
14,499
14,267
16,953
15,056
15,590


Inverclyde
5,229
8,404
5,577
7,771
5,894
9,063


Midlothian
5,227
7,319
5,571
7,663
5,884
7,528


Moray
4,717
5,937
5,021
6,915
5,299
6,564


North Ayrshire
8,689
10,834
9,260
13,371
9,779
13,682


North Lanarkshire
20,758
34,182
22,134
35,623
23,385
36,749


Orkney Islands
1,401
2,650
1,488
3,601
1,569
3,830


Perth and Kinross
8,060
9,887
8,581
12,372
9,056
12,783


Renfrewshire
11,356
15,258
12,110
16,144
12,796
17,234


Scottish Borders
6,233
6,802
6,634
7,852
7,001
8,450


Shetland Islands
1,548
2,991
1,646
3,328
1,735
3,415


South Ayrshire
7,466
10,410
7,956
10,363
8,401
10,956


South Lanarkshire
20,085
31,022
21,403
28,719
22,603
30,241


Stirling
5,568
7,146
5,930
7,890
6,259
7,751


West Dunbartonshire
5,899
9,329
6,294
9,776
6,653
11,489


West Lothian
9,358
8,666
9,976
10,119
10,537
10,803



  GAE Source: Grant Aided Expenditure Green Books.

  NRE Source: LFR2 return.

Forestry Commission

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the reasons are for the Forestry Commission’s plans to relocate administrative and training operations from Ae, in Dumfries and Galloway, to Edinburgh at a time when the Executive has announced its commitment to decentralising posts away from Edinburgh.

Rhona Brankin: The Forestry Commission has identified scope for increased efficiencies in its Human Resources Division, by combining the roles of two units: the Change Management team and Forestry Training Services, given the changing nature of learning and development. The business case points to savings and the benefits of closer integration with the rest of their human resource colleagues who work in Edinburgh.

  Less than ten per cent of Forestry Commission Scotland staff are based in Edinburgh, and the headquarters and supporting office for Forest Enterprise Scotland are located in Inverness and Dumfries respectively. This relocation of staff from Ae to the Commission’s Silvan House in Edinburgh is not against the policy of the Scottish Executive. The offices at Silvan House include employees who are providing central services like Human Resources, for staff in England, Wales and Scotland. This relocation ensures that jobs are kept in Scotland which could otherwise be located in other parts of Britain, whilst delivering savings which may provide for an increased ability of Forestry Commission Scotland to put more staff in the front line.

Health

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has met its 2005 targets on (a) physical activity, (b) diet and (c) alcohol.

Mr Andy Kerr: (a) There are no set targets for physical activity for 2005. The National Strategy for Physical Activity sets out a long-term target for 50% of all adults over 16 and 80% of all children aged 16 and under to meet the minimum recommended levels of physical activity by 2022.

  (b) Information on the dietary targets is not yet available. The Food Standards Agency Scotland (FSAS) will be publishing a report in November reviewing the progress up to 2003 on the Scottish Diet Action Plan targets. Due to the nature of the methodology this will be the most up-to-date data available. Regular monitoring will be put in place beyond this to provide data on progress towards the targets.

  (c) Progress towards national targets to reduce harmful drinking by adults is monitored through the Scottish Health Survey. The most recent survey was undertaken in 2003 and is expected to be published in November 2005.

  Progress towards the national target to reduce the number of young people who report drinking alcohol is monitored through the biennial Scottish Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey. In the most recent survey, undertaken in 2004, 20% of 13-year-olds and 43% of 15-year-olds report drinking alcohol in the week before the survey. Since 2002, reported drinking has decreased among 13-year-olds from 23% (to 20%). Among 15-year-old boys reported drinking has decreased from 47% to 40% but remained the same for 15-year-old girls at 46% in both 2002 and 2004.

Health

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to encourage a higher uptake of the use of statins for those who could benefit from treatment but are not yet accessing the medicines.

Mr Andy Kerr: Statins are available to patients on NHS prescription. These medicines are widely prescribed and, as with all medicines, the decision whether or not to prescribe a drug is a matter for the clinician concerned, in discussion with the patient.

  Over the past five years, prescribing of these drugs in Scotland has more than doubled from 1.299 million items in 2000-01 to 3.025 million items in 2004-05. These figures reflect prescribed items dispensed in the community and do not take into account medicines dispensed through the hospital service.

  The quality indicators in the new General Medical Services contract include cholesterol management for patients with coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke or transient ischaemic attacks. Indicator sets are designed to encourage more structured care of patients with chronic diseases.

  Since July 2004, Simvastatin 10mg has been available for purchase from community pharmacists without a prescription. The decision to allow a statin to be available without a prescription gives people easier access to a preventative medicine and allows them more choice about how they can protect their own health.

NHS Staff

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what stage discussions relating to increasing the NHS pension age from 60 to 65 have reached.

Mr Andy Kerr: The UK Government is currently in discussion with trade unions to establish the overall policy framework for pension reforms and these are expected to be completed by the end of October. The UK Government will then set the pension policy parameters and context for scheme specific discussions, following which the review of the NHS scheme in Scotland will recommence.

Police

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps have been taken over the last year to increase the recruitment, selection and employment of female police surgeons.

Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-19333 on 6 October 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Road Signs

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-13929 by Nicol Stephen on 11 February 2005, whether its review of the Trunk Road and Motorway Tourist Signage Policy document is now complete and when the findings will be published.

Tavish Scott: My officials have completed the Review of Trunk Road and Motorway Tourist Signing Policy and are arranging for the document to be printed for consultation. I expect to consult widely on the proposals in November.

Roads

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-31634 by Lewis Macdonald on 28 November 2002, whether it will publish its assessment of traffic levels on the A9 trunk road between Perth and Inverness in each of the last five years.

Tavish Scott: The assessment of average daily traffic flows on the A9 is published annually at table 6.6 of the Scottish Transport Statistics. Detailed daily averages for each month in the last five years have been provided in my answer to question S2W-19420 on 6 October 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Roads

Campbell Martin (West of Scotland) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what redress citizens have when protracted works carried out on roads by local authorities result in financial losses for business and noise nuisance and disruption for local residents.

Tavish Scott: Local authorities have powers under Section 1 of the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to manage and maintain all public roads in their area.

  Any redress for financial losses incurred by business and noise nuisance and disruption for local residents when such works have been carried out is a legal matter between the affected parties.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Christine May (Central Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Scottish Environment Protection Agency will publish its Annual Report and Accounts for 2004-05.

Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s (SEPA) ninth Annual Report and Accounts were laid before Parliament on 6 October (SE 2005/179). The report contains details of SEPA’s achievements and activities during the period 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005. Copies of the Annual Report and Accounts have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 37327).